MEDICAL DEVICE TAX WRAPPED UP IN SHUTDOWN POLITICS: One of K Street’s ongoing lobbying fights this year has spilled into the government shutdown. The medical device tax applies to manufacturers of devices such as pacemakers, artificial hips and insulin pumps — and has been the subject of an extensive lobbying campaign for repeal. Aside from delaying the law’s implementation for a year, House Republicans are requesting that the 2.3 percent tax on medical taxes be repealed as part of a bill to avoid government shutdown.

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The device-making industry has spent freely over the past two years on lobbying to have the provision removed. AdvaMed, a leader in the cause, has spent more than $1.1 million on lobbying in 2013, and has had Tarplin, Downs & Young, Capitol Hill Strategies, Blank Rome Government Relations, Cauthen Forbes & Williams, Forbes-Tate, Ernst & Young, Kountoupes Denham and Ogilvy Government Relations all working specifically on the medial device issue. Medtronic, the world's largest medical technology company, has spent more than $1.7 million on 2013 lobbying, and has the Nickles Group, Brown Rudnick and W Strategies on the issue. Other companies lobbying on the device tax include 3M Company, the American Association of Orthodontists, Johnson & Johnson, Americans for Tax Reform, General Electric Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens more with an interest in wiping out the provision.

The House’s bill to repeal the provision, Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2013, has 45 organizations registered to lobby on it, while the Senate version, Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act, has 38.

WHAT ARE K STREET’S THOUGHTS ON THE SHUTDOWN? Though President Barack Obama often blames special interests and Washington lobbyists for the dysfunction and paralysis that plagues Beltway politics, most of the working K Street downtowners — and their clients — would like nothing better than for Congress to start working again on the routine business of drafting, debating and passing legislation. Instead, this latest round of squabbling is cutting into time better spent working on other things. “When Congress doesn’t do things and when Congress is not productive, people who are trying to influence Congress are not productive,” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who was a top adviser to former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt. “What it means is that issues that you’re working on — whether it be tax reform and immigration reform and other issues in the spending bills — don’t get resolved,” said Elmendorf, who is co-founder of the firm Elmendorf Ryan. “It makes everybody’s job harder.”

The lack of movement on big legislation has longtime K Street hands frustrated with the way Congress is working — or not working. A thaw in the endless budget and health care battles of the past two years would be a real blessing for Washington’s lobbying corps. “Let’s just assume that the government is beginning to operate and assume that all 13 spending bills had been passed,” said David Urban, a Republican lobbyist with the American Continental Group. “It would be a completely different landscape for lobbyists because you would have quote-unquote normal orders.” Instead, Urban, who was a top staffer to former Sen. Arlen Specter, said the latest fight over spending is throwing a wrench in K Street’s bread and butter work of tweaking legislation and attracting new client business. “The wide variety of client business — interests that come to Washington [to] lobby — is now interrupted,” Urban said about the shutdown. Byron has more: http://politi.co/1hfuwM3

GOOD MONDAY AFTERNOON, where it’s been 6477 days since the last shutdown crisis was resolved. “Mr. Holland's Opus” and “Grumpier Old Men” were in theaters, “Gangsta's Paradise” by Coolio, “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls were all in heavy radio rotation and “3rd Rock from the Sun” would debut just a few days after the shutdown impasse ended. Wikipedia also claims “hippie-style floral dresses, turtleneck shirts, lace blouses and Gypsy tops” were the uniforms of choice in the mid-1990s. Send your lobbying news, gossip, tips, scoops and 1990s nostalgia to btau@politico.com. And keep up with PI on Twitter by following @ ByronTau or @ PoliticoPI.

SCF BUNDLING FOR BRIDENSTINE: Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) — who took the lead on a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushing him on Affordable Care Act defunding — is also the recipient of a number of grass-roots contributions bundled by the Senate Conservatives Fund. The Senate Conservatives Fund has roiled GOP politics since engaging in the shutdown fight — targeting mostly Republicans deemed insufficiently committed to repealing the health care law. And on the organization’s August campaign finance report, Bridenstine was the only candidate receiving SCF funds. Anna and Manu Raju have a full story on the SCF here: http://politi.co/1bmfeId

NJDC NAMES MOLINE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The National Jewish Democratic Council has brought on Rabbi Jack Moline as the group's new executive director. Moline — leader of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Va. — takes over his new position in January. He also is an adjunct professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Virginia Theological Seminary. Aaron Keyak — now on Capitol Hill with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) — previously served as NJDC executive director on an interim basis.

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RIVAL COMMUNICATORS TO TIE THE KNOT: Paul Pimentel popped the question to Emily Crane on Friday night at sunset in Constitution Gardens with a diamond ring transported from Connecticut by Paul's friends, through a series of planes, trains and automobiles. The two were set up last May by friends and former Chris Shays colleagues Lauren Cozzi and Len Wolfson. Both vice presidents at rival communications firms in town ( Powell Tate and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, respectively), the two are well-known and loved by friends for their sense of humor and fabulous dinner parties.

RING WROTE THE BOOK ON SCALIA, LITERALLY: The LA Times reports that Kevin Ring, a lobbyist who wrote a book about Justice Antonin Scalia, now finds his honest services fraud appeal in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Ring — a former lobbyist for Greenberg Traurig and Barnes & Thornburg — called Scalia the "wittiest, most outspoken justice” in his 2004 book “Scalia Dissents.” By coincidence, Scalia’s dissent in the latest honest services fraud case helped limit the law’s impact. If his appeal is denied, Ring faces a federal prison sentence of nearly two years. More here: http://lat.ms/19in6CT

SHUTDOWN WATCH: THE LATEST: A roundup of the latest POLITICO shutdown news.

Markets react: Stocks tumbled at the open of the markets on Monday as lawmakers inched closer to a government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 150 points at open, about a 1 percent drop. The S&P and Nasdaq also fell close to 1 percent. Stocks fell last week as well over concerns that the government would shut down after hitting a record high earlier this month. http://politi.co/1hf66m0

GOP leaders huddle: House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team will meet twice Monday morning as House Republicans mull how — and if — they will avoid a government shutdown. The Senate is expected to reject House-passed legislation that would keep the government open until Dec. 15, but would also delay Obamacare for one year and repeal the medical device tax. The federal government shuts down at midnight if the Senate and House cannot agree on a funding bill. http://politi.co/1bmaHFE

Senate expected to kill House bill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will double down on Monday afternoon and again dismiss the House’s attempts to chip away at Obamacare as part of a government funding bill. The Senate will come in session at 2 p.m. and shortly thereafter vote to table the funding bill passed by the House over the weekend that repeals a 2.3 percent levy on medical devices and delay Obamacare by a year. The Senate will send back a bill funding the government through Nov. 15, leaving the House a handful of hours to respond. http://politi.co/18FxY1x

OOPS: The metadata in a pro-medical device tax repeal letter signed by a number of members of Congress shows that the letter was created by a lobbyist for the industry. The Nation: http://bit.ly/17ja0bT

BE AN AGRICULTURE PRO: Pro Agriculture, the second of three new Pro policy areas launching this fall, will debut on Wednesday, Oct. 2, and will feature breaking news and inside analysis from our best-in-the-business reporters. To learn more about Pro Agriculture, email info@politicopro.com or call 703-341-4600.

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